Beyond the Map
by Riven Asphodel
Summary: "I wish people would stop saying that!" Harry snapped, "He didn't want to die!" Lupin didn't raise his voice. If anything, it grew softer. "A lot of things in Sirius' life didn't end like he wanted." He paused. "You wanted to know our story. Your parents', Sirius', mine...I'll tell you." Harry looked up, brow furrowed, "Everything?" Lupin smiled and nodded.
1. Prologue

Prologue

"I am sorry about this, Harry," Dumbledore said throwing a traveling cloak around his shoulders, "but I'm afraid this is a matter that cannot wait."

"Can I go with you, sir?" he asked hopefully.

Dumbledore smiled at him. "I'm afraid not, Harry. I promise one day soon I will be more than happy to have you accompany me." He paused then added as though he knew the next question that had formed instantly on Harry's lips, "When I feel that you are ready."

Harry's jaw clenched in frustration.

"Even though I am postponing my intended lesson plans for now, there is no need for your time to go to waste," he continued, his eyes sparkling behind his half-moon spectacles. He waved his wand and the ornate cabinet next to the Pensieve opened with a soft click. It was where Dumbledore kept vials upon vials of collected memories.

Harry looked at him, confused.

"Feel free to browse. You may find something useful or informative…or even amusing."

He opened his mouth to ask if all of them had something to do with Voldemort but before he could get the words out Dumbledore had vanished out the office door with a swish of his cloak.

He stood there for a moment unsure of what exactly to do. He slowly approached the cabinet and peered at the shelves of dusty bottles. Each one was labeled with the name of the person whose memories the vial contained. His eyes skimmed over the names and recognized a few of them.

Ludo Bagman. Bathilda Bagshot. Professor Cuthbert Binns. Headmaster Phineas Nigellus Black….

Harry's heart quickened.

His hand trembled slightly as he reached for a vial labeled, "Sirius Black."

Why did Dumbledore have a vial of Sirius' memories?

His eyes continued to roam the rows of vials. He now wondered if…

His heart leapt as it continued to hammer against his rib cage.

Remus Lupin.

He plucked it off its shelf as well and continued, searching.

Then there they were. Two vials side by side labeled "James Potter" and "Lily Evans Potter."

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	2. The Beginning

The Beginning

It was crowded. Eager adolescents and their families littered platform nine and three quarters – trunks, cats, owls, and various other luggage in tow. Sirius Black sighed as he observed his surroundings idly.

"Stand up straight, Sirius!" his mother barked as the scarlet steam engine rolled in.

The mass of students rushed the doors the second they opened, escaping relatives' grasping embraces.

"Well…" Sirius started awkwardly, unsure of how to say goodbye and that he'd write while actually meaning it.

"Don't disappoint us," his mother said curtly as she turned on heel and left her son.

"That was easy," he muttered with a smile as he hopped onto the train.

His insides seized up with excitement and a bit of anxiety. He had done it. He was on the train to Hogwarts soon to be speeding away from his wretched life in London. He was away from her, away from all of them. But would Hogwarts be any better? He shook the doubt from his head. It had to be better.

All the compartments were filling up fast. Sirius chose one close to the back of the train. He opened the door to come face to face with a boy with unruly jet black hair and hazel eyes gleaming behind glasses.

"Hi, I'm James Potter," the boy said offering his hand.

"Sirius Black," he replied shaking James' hand "Is it alright if I join you?"

James stepped aside and motioned him to enter. The only other one in the compartment was a girl with flaming red hair by the window. Her face was hidden behind an edition of the Daily Prophet, but from the way the paper shook in her hands it was apparent she was upset about something. Sirius dropped into the seat by door and kicked up his legs into the seat in front of him. James sat in the seat next to his feet, grinning at him.

"First year?" James asked.

"Yeah, you?"

"Yeah," he said beaming, "All your family wizards?"

"Yeah," Sirius replied with an irritated note to his voice.

 _Here we go_ , he thought bitterly, _The pureblood inquiry._

"Mine too," James said more proudly, "and all of them have attended Hogwarts."

Sirius nodded to indicate his family was the same way. Well he had one relative who attended Durmstrang, but he didn't feel too keen on mentioning it.

"It's amazing how many people don't have wizarding families though," James continued not in a voice of disapproval or revulsion, but one of fascination, "Some don't have a single witch or wizard in the family – all muggles – and end up with a letter to Hogwarts!" His smile broadened. "It's brilliant."

Sirius felt his posture relax a bit. Yes, Hogwarts was going to be much better.

"You done with the paper?" James asked the red-headed girl. She handed it to him without saying a word. Her eyes were slightly red and puffy, but James didn't seem to take any notice of this as he took it from her.

"Oh no," he groaned, "the Wasps lost to the Harpies in the league final."

"It's that your team?" Sirius asked, relieved for a discussion other than families.

"Other than England, yeah. They're my favorite in the league," James said, "Then of course there'll be my house team at Hogwarts."

"Planning to go out for quidditch, then?"

"Yeah!" James said nodding so vigorously his glasses almost came off, "What about you?"

"Maybe," Sirius said, "What position?"

"I always play chaser at home," James said with another note of pride, "but seeker wouldn't be bad either."

Sirius enjoyed quidditch, but living in the middle of London, there was really no way for him to play leisurely.

"It's rubbish they won't let have first years have their own brooms," James muttered bitterly, "My dad bought me a new Nimbus as a congratulations for my acceptance into Hogwarts."

They started talking about everything from classes to myths and rumors about Hogwarts. Their compartment door slid open and a boy with long black greasy hair, black eyes and a hook nose peeked in.

"There you are, Lily!" he said to the red-headed girl, striding past James and Sirius to sit opposite her, "I've been looking all over for you."

"I don't want to talk to you," she said in a constricted voice.

"Why not?" he asked sounding slightly pained.

Their conversation held no interest for the boys, so they turned their attention back to joking around.

"You'd better be in Slytherin," said the boy with the hook nose.

"Slytherin?" James whirled around to face them, "Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" he asked Sirius.

Sirius didn't smile.

"My whole family have been in Slytherin," he said.

"Blimey," said James, "and I thought you were all right!"

Sirius grinned.

"Maybe I'll break tradition. Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?"

James lifted an invisible sword.

"'Gryffindor, where the brave dwell at heart!' Like my dad."

The boy made a small, disparaging noise. James turned on him.

"Got a problem with that?"

"No," said the boy, though his slight sneer said otherwise. "If you'd rather be brawny rather than brainy–"

"Where're you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?" interjected Sirius.

James roared with laughter. Lily sat up, rather flushed, and looked from James to Sirius in dislike.

"Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment."

"Ooooooo…"

James and Sirius imitated her lofty voice; James tried to trip Severus as he passed.

"See ya, Snivellus!" Sirius called, as the compartment door slammed.

An awkward silence briefly fell between them before the compartment door slid open. A peaky, sandy blonde haired boy peeked in.

"Pardon, but is there room?"

"Yeah," James answered gesturing to Severus' and Lily's vacant seats.

The boy came in looking very grateful, "First years?" he asked brightly.

"Yeah," James said, "I'm James Potter."

"Remus Lupin," the boy said as he sat down next to James.

"Sirius Black," Sirius said with a nod.

They started to talk about Hogwarts, Remus seeming more excited than any of them, as the lunch trolley came by and James insisted on buying half of the cart for the three of them. Sirius concluded that the Potters had enough gold to go around a few times and James liked to flaunt it a bit. Regardless, Sirius found himself liking James. As the train entered more wild terrain, they changed into their Hogwarts robes. James asked Remus if he had a quidditch team. Remus confessed to not having that much experience with the sport and not even being that familiar with how it was played. To James this appeared to be sin of the highest degree, so he launched into an animated explanation of rules, regulations and technique. The boys continued lively discussion until they arrived at the foggy station.

They got off the train where the first years were then summoned to gather around an abnormally large man with wild dark hair and beard.

"Firs' years!" he called, "Firs' years, o'er here. Gather 'round."

Sirius couldn't help but laugh at the utterly dumbfounded expression on James' face as he stared up at the giant man.

"There, got ev'ryone?" the giant man asked. "Righ' then, we take the boat 'cross the lake."

They all walked away from the train station and over to the bank of the black lake where a dozen or more little boats waited, each carrying a lantern to light the way.

"Righ' now," the giant man said with a smile, "four to a boat. Watch yeh step and keep yeh arms and legs inside the boats. Don't want the giant squid gettin' yeh."

Everyone looked at each other anxiously, wondering if he was serious about the giant squid. Remus was put on a boat with Lily, Severus, and a freckled girl with ashy, auburn hair. The girl smiled at him as she sat next to him and he couldn't help but notice how very cute she was. He was thankful it was dark because he was positive he was blushing.

"Hi, I'm Alyce," she said brightly.

"Lily," Lily said smiling at her.

"Severus," Severus said apathetically moving closer to Lily.

"R-R-Remus," he stuttered, feeling his face grow even hotter.

James and Sirius were in a boat with a small boy with beady, watery eyes, and the giant man.

"He's gonna sink us!" James whispered to Sirius.

"Maybe we could hitch a ride off the giant squid," Sirius said shrugging. They laughed and the boy with watery eyes laughed loudly along. James and Sirius stared at him awkwardly and he quickly looked away.

The boat rocked dangerously as the giant man climbed in the boat, but it miraculously held his immense weight. The motion caused the other boy to turn green and grasp the edge of the boat. They set sail.

"Do yer suppose he's gonna be alright?" the giant man asked, nodding over to the other boy who was now fully leaned over the side of the boat looking sickly.

Sirius and James gave an apathetic shrug.

"I'm Rubeus Hagrid by the way," the giant man said, "Mos' call me Hagrid though. I'm the groundskeeper at Hogwarts."

"James Potter."

"Sirius Black."

Hagrid cast an uneasy but curious eye at Sirius. Sirius quickly became fascinated with the lake. The once perfectly still smooth surface now gently rolled in the wake of the boats. Hagrid no doubt ably knew of the Black family's notorious reputation. By the look of it Hagrid was without a doubt at least half-giant, and the Blacks didn't tolerate such impurity. Sirius started to feel as sick as the boy with beady eyes. What if everyone he came across at Hogwarts passed this judgment on him? He wasn't like _them._ He had fought against his family's self-righteous ways for so long. He stopped caring to prove himself to his relatives, but he'd have to prove himself at Hogwarts. Though, James didn't seem to care what family he came from. With that reassuring thought, Sirius pushed the fear away and focused up ahead.

As they sailed around a bank, the fog lifted to reveal a large magnificent castle perched upon a cliff the light in its windows twinkling like the stars in the sky. There were gasps and whispers of amazement and excitement. Alyce bounced excitedly next to Remus, her eyes wide and anxious. Lily gasped, squeezing Severus' arm and a small smile flicker across his sallow face.

"We're here, Sev!" she whispered, "we're actually here! Hogwarts!"

They passed under the cliff hanging and hit a pebbly shore. They all quickly climbed out of the boats and followed Hagrid up the passageway to the castle.

"I wonder when we'll be sorted," Severus said to Lily.

"How are we sorted?" she asked nervously, "Do we have to do any magic?"

"I hope not," Alyce groaned next to Lily, "I don't know any! I mean I didn't even know I was a witch until about a month ago."

Lily turned to her, "Me neither! A-Are you muggle-born as well?"

Alyce nodded and the two girls beamed at each other. Lily drew closer to Alyce. Words couldn't describe how relieved she was to have found someone just as new to this as her.

Severus' eyes narrowed, "None of us know any magic to be tested on!"

Lily and Alyce were whispering excitedly as the castle became more defined in the dark.

"You don't need to worry, Lily," Severus said desperate to get her attention back, "You can do anything."

She turned to smile at him and he was contented.

As the castle drew nearer, the excitement as well as the nerves grew. The only one who appeared fully confident was James Potter. He carried himself with pride as the approached the great oak doors. Hagrid pounded on the door three times and it swung open to reveal a tall, stern-looking witch. Her black hair was secured in a tight knot at the top of her head and she was wearing robes of bright emerald green velvet.

"Professor McGonagall," Hagrid said with a short bow.

"I'll take them from here, Hagrid," she said before addressing the first years, "Welcome to Hogwarts! The start-of-term feast will begin momentarily, but first, you all must be sorted into your houses. Your house will be like your family. Achievements will earn points for your house, and rule-breaking and you will lose your points. The house with the most point at the end of the year will win the house cup. The four houses are Gryffindor-" Sirius felt James draw himself up and puff out his chest, "Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin." Sirius winced.

"Now, form a line."

Lily exchanged nervous glances with Alyce. She gave a small smile as if to say, "We'll be okay."

They followed Professor McGonagall through the chamber and through double doors into the Great Hall. There were more gasps of amazement. The Great Hall was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables where the rest of the students were sitting. Professor McGonagall led them up to a table at the top of the hall where it appeared all the teachers were sitting. They all gathered around a tall stool where a very shabby hat was perched. Lily and Alyce looked at each other quizzically.

"Now," Professor McGonagall cleared her throat, "When I call your names, I will place the Sorting Hat on your head, it will call out the name of your house and you will go sit at the house table." She stopped and stared at the hat. Everyone did the same. Suddenly a rip at the brim like a mouth opened, and the hat started to sing about Hogwarts and the four houses. Lily wasn't sure if she liked the sound of the house Sev wanted to be in….sly and power-hungry.

"Anderson, Abigail," Professor McGonagall called from an exceedingly long roll of parchment.

A small girl with brown curly hair walked toward the stool. The hat was on her hat for a second and the hat quivered and cried, "HUFFLEPUFF." Abigail seeming relieved went to join the Hufflepuff table.

"Black, Sirius."

Sirius slowly walked up to the stool, his insides writhing though he fought not to show it. What if he couldn't break tradition? What if he was put in Slytherin? He climbed onto the stool and Professor McGonagall placed the hat on his head.

"Well, well," a voice said in his ear, "a Black."

Sirius felt his heart drop like an icy rock into his stomach.

"A Black by name but not in heart," the voice continued, "Where shall I put you? Courage, that I see, and loyalty….yes…of course…" Then a loud, "GRYFFINDOR!" erupted in his ears.

Sirius nearly fell off the stool in relief. He saw James clapping enthusiastically for him. Somehow he made it over to the table where he was greeted and congratulated by his house mates.

It seemed like an eternity before they got to the E's. As Elbing, Kyle was being sorted, Lily grabbed Alyce's hand. They must be getting close to her name. Alyce gave it a reassuring squeeze as McGonagall called -

"Evans, Lily."

Lily walked forward on trembling legs and sat down upon the rickety stool. Professor McGonagall dropped the Sorting Hat onto her head, and barely a second after it had touched the dark red hair, the hat cried, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Severus let out a tiny groan. Lily took off the hat, handed it back to Professor McGonagall, then hurried toward the cheering Gryffindors, but as she went she glanced back at Severus, and there was a sad little smile on her face. Sirius moved up the bench to make room for her. She took one look at him, seemed to recognize him from the train, folded her arms, and firmly turned her back on him.

Alyce had started shaking. She watched as one by one the students approached the stool and had the hat placed upon their head. Some, the hat screamed as soon as it touched their head if not a breath before. Others, it sat deliberating for a few minutes before declaring a house. What if it couldn't sort her? What if she wasn't magical enough? What if she didn't belong anywhere?

She felt a reassuring pressure on her arm. She tore her worried gaze from the Sorting Hat to Remus. He smiled shyly at her and she saw the same worry etched in his eyes as hers.

"Lupin, Remus."

Remus blanched as he walked up to the hat. It sat on his head a few seconds before shouting, "Gryffindor!"

"McKinnon, Marlene."

Still shaking, Alyce walked over and hopped up onto the stool. The hat fell over her eyes.

"But of course," a voice whispered in her ear. And then a roaring, "GRYFFINDOR!"

She felt a rush of relief as the hat was pulled off her head. In a daze of happiness, she rushed over to the Gryffindor table and sat next to Remus across from Sirius and Lily. She flashed a smile at Lily who beamed at her.

"I thought you said your name was Alyce?" Remus asked his brow furrowed.

"Alyce is my middle name," Alyce explained, "Marlene is my first name."

Remus nodded.

"Please don't call me Marlene. I hate it."

"Alyce it is," he agreed with a smile.

Sirius glanced at Alyce as he clapped with the other Gryffindors. He found himself looking directly into large amber eyes. She looked at him with a curious expression that almost had an eerie, knowing look to it, then she quickly looked away from him, a pale pink now covering her freckled cheeks. She had probably heard of the notorious Blacks too, he thought bitterly.

Lily and Alyce exchanged smiles, glad to be in the same house, and continued watching the sorting. Sirius cheered loudly as James got his wish and joined the table sitting next to Lily. Lily sighed as Severus too got his wish and joined the Slytherins. At least she knew Alyce.

As the Sorting concluded, a tall man with silver hair and beard stood and held up a hand for silence. This was Albus Dumbledore.

"I won't delay our delicious dinner for long," he said beaming around at them, "Welcome to a fantastic year at Hogwarts! Just a few notices: First years, the forest is out of bound to all students, and our new edition to the grounds, the Whomping Willow, should not be bothered in any way unless you wish to be sent to the Hospital Wing in a match box. Mr. Filch has asked me to remind all students that magic as well as dungbombs in the corridors is prohibited. Now, tuck in!"

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	3. Not All Toilets are Nice

Chapter Two

Not All Toilets are Nice

After the enormous feast, the Gryffindors were led to their common room, behind a portrait of a fat lady.

"Password?" she asked.

"Ab initio," the prefect said clearly.

She nodded and swung forward revealing the entrance to the common room. The common room was warm and filled with several red squashy armchairs.

The prefect directed the girls to their dorm and the boys the opposite way to theirs. Sirius, James, Remus, and the boy with watery eyes were all in a room together. All their stuff was already there and Gryffindor themed robes and scarves were lying on their beds. Sirius and James claimed beds next to each other. Sirius was far too jittery to sleep. He, James, and Remus stayed up talking about what their classes would be like and passing around a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.

"I think Potions might be interesting," Remus said grimacing as he bit into a grass flavored bean.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts," James said, "that'll actually come in handy."

Sirius nodded as he ate a coconut flavored bean, "Especially with dark wizards on the rise."

"But they wouldn't come here would they?" Remus asked anxiously.

"Of course not," James said lazily as he took a bite out of an asparagus flavored one, "One disappearance at the Ministry isn't enough fret about."

Remus seemed to grow uncomfortable and suggested they all go to bed. Sirius lay in his bed and struggled to go to sleep. He wanted to go explore, but he daren't get into trouble his first night. How his mother would pitch a fit…not like she wouldn't already be upset with the fact he'd already broken tradition and been sorted into Gryffindor – not Slytherin. He found himself grinning as he imagined the look on her face when she found out. He was in Gryffindor and was making friends. He had a good feeling about James Potter and part of the feeling was that there were many adventures in store for them. That feeling alone caused him to bubble with excitement. For the first time, in probably his whole life, Sirius felt….happy.

Lily and Alyce shared a room with three other girls. One of them rushed up to them and introduced herself as Mary Macdonald. The girls chattered away happily about how they received their letters and what awaited them all tomorrow.

"Do you think we'll be able to do well in our classes?" Alyce whispered to Lily as they got ready for bed.

"Severus told me it doesn't matter if you're Muggle-born or not," Lily reassured her.

"I hope he's right."

"Me too," Lily said nervously.

Alyce climbed into bed and drew the curtains around her. The overwhelming happiness she had been feeling at the feast faded a bit as she started thinking about tomorrow. The fear of not being magical enough crept back into her head. She had worried about coming to Hogwarts and everyone being of magical descent not fitting in. She hadn't really fit in the Muggle world, why would the Wizarding world be any different. Lily and Remus, though, seemed to like her. Hopefully that wouldn't change come morning light.

"Okay so just Charms and double Transfiguration today," Remus announced reading the class schedule at breakfast, "I hear Transfiguration is really difficult."

"Nah," James said through a mouthful of bacon, "McGonagall teaches it and she's head of Gryffindor house."

"She doesn't look the sort to play favorites," Remus said looking up at the staff table anxiously at Professor McGonagall.

"Oh I don't know," James said with a grin at Sirius, "Maybe she just hasn't met the right ones."

Remus opened his mouth to discourage sucking up to the teacher, when hundreds of owls coming swooping in with the post. Most of it was letters and packages from home; for the First Years, congratulations for getting into their houses.

Two rather large barn owls dropped a huge scarlet and gold wrapped box in front of James containing at least a few months' supply of sweets and homemade cakes. Remus smiled at a letter from his mother and father expressing their pride. Lily giggled at the small bouquet of lilies a snowy owl dropped on her lap. The card attached to it bore congratulations and love from her parents, but Lily's green eyes searched desperately from something else. Then she spotted it at the corner of the card.

" _Congratulations.  
Petunia"_

Lily felt her excitement drain a bit. She could hear the icy tone in which Tuney probably wrote that in. Lily sighed sadly and slipped the card back inside the bouquet. Alyce, sensing her turmoil, offered her a brownie her mother had made. Lily smiled and took it gratefully.

"Nothing from your parents?" James asked noticing Sirius' gift-less hands.

Sirius shook his head, "No, I imagine their not too pleased I'm in Gryffindor. My family's all about tradition, and well," he shrugged, "Gryffindor's not exactly Slytherin." Sirius wasn't sure if he was happy or sad he didn't hear from his parents. Well, pride in him would've been preferable, but he knew his family better. He was proud to break the family curse of Slytherin because that's what it was, a curse. Still, Sirius couldn't help but feel a slight pang of envy when looking at James' mountain of sweets.

James was all the more confused. It perplexed him that Sirius' parents wouldn't show any kind of pride or support in their son making Gryffindor. He had heard the Blacks were an old wizarding family who valued their family traditions and secrets, but still….no acknowledgement of Sirius' accomplishments at all? It was too much for James to understand. His parents had always expressed their love and support for him in anything he did. He offered Sirius a generous offering of sweets and cakes.

Sirius grinned at him and took some chocolate cakes, saying, "Really, mate, don't worry about it. My family's just doesn't like change or impurity. I mean, they hate anything that doesn't have lineage back to cave wizards. They hate anything not pure-blood, and the loathe anything to do with Muggles."

Sirius felt something flinch beside him. He glanced over and glimpsed a pair of large amber eyes before a curtain of dark hair hid the face of Alyce McKinnon who was now focusing intently on her breakfast.

"Really, they're a bunch of prats," Sirius continued a bit quieter turning back to James, "Don't worry about it."

"Hello, Lily," a familiar voice said behind Lily and Alyce.

"Sev!" Lily said smiling at Severus Snape, "How's Slytherin?"

"Great," Severus answered returning the smile, "Slughorn's pretty cool. You should've been in Slytherin."

There was a scoff that came from James Potter's general direction.

"Well, by the looks of our schedules, at least we'll have Potions together," Lily said brightly, trying to avoid the fact she was quite glad not to be in Slytherin.

Severus nodded. "You know where are your classes are yet?"

Lily's smile faded, "No, I haven't had time to learn the castle yet! I mean, they can't really expect us to know our way around yet! We haven't even been here a full twenty-four hours!"

"What's your first class?" he asked.

"Charms."

"Oh that's easy," Severus replied smiling at Lily.

"You know where it is?" Lily asked raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah," Severus answered his smile broadening a bit, "That's what I've been doing this morning, looking for all the classrooms. I don't care much for breakfast. I could show you if you want."

"That'd be great," Lily said her smile returning as she got up to follow Severus. She stopped before exiting out through the door and called, "Alyce, are you coming?"

Alyce looked at her blankly for a second – caught off guard by being directly invited to do something by another person – before answering, "Yes." She quickly got up and rushed to where Lily and Severus were waiting before Lily could change her mind. Severus did not looked pleased Alyce was coming, but led the way anyway.

Remus looked at the map befuddled, "I swear the classrooms move!"

"Or at least the staircases," James agreed, "We were just here."

Just then they ran into the greasy haired boy, Severus, Lily, and Alyce. Quite literally ran into. Severus knocked James over. Alyce had tripped over their sprawled forms and fallen into Sirius who managed to catch her while still standing. Her large amber eyes looked up at him in alarm as he helped her back on her feet. There was a brief moment where his eyes didn't leave hers. He didn't ask if she was okay. She obviously was. Their gaze was broken by James' groan.

"Ick! Watch where you're going, Snivellus! If I wanted to be slathered in grease, I would've asked."

Severus glared and opened his mouth to retort, but Lily grabbed his arm and quickly said, "We're going to be late. The Charms classroom, Sev?"

Alyce noticed Severus' hand was clutching something in his robe pocket – probably his wand. Sirius seemed to notice this too for the hand that wasn't grasping her arm plunged into his robes.

Severus looked at Lily's pleading face and with one last glare at James, he said, "Come on."

"You know where Charms is?" Remus blurted after him.

"No need, Remus," James said, "We'll find it on our own."

"Good luck," Severus sneered, "You're going the wrong way."

James didn't seem to be listening as he strode down the opposite end of the corridor.

"Alyce!" Lily called.

"Coming," she said forcing herself to look back into the grey eyes of Sirius, who realized he was still holding on to her and let go of her with a jolt.

With a rushed mutter of, "Thanks," she pulled herself out of the steel trap of grey and hurried after Lily.

"James," Remus pleaded, "It's our first day and Sev-"

"Is a slimy Slytherin who doesn't know anything," James scoffed, "Sirius! You coming?"

Sirius, who had been staring after Severus, Lily and Alyce with a rather bemused expression, snapped out of his trance.

"This way," James called.

"James, really, it's the best shot we got opposed to wandering blindly around the castle," Remus said.

"You've got a map!"

Remus shook his head at the lost cause and hurried to catch up with Severus and the girls. James glared after him and looked expectantly at Sirius, who shrugged and followed James.

"You're late, boys!" tiny Professor Flitwick snapped as Sirius and James entered the classroom almost a half-an-hour late.

"Got lost," Sirius said as they sat in the last two seats up at the front of the classroom.

"May I suggest a map?" Professor Flitwick said dropping one on Sirius' desk with his wand.

"We had a map!"

"Obviously, we need a better map," James muttered to Sirius.

"Well, wands out. We're practicing levitation. Swish and flick. _Wingardium Leviosa!_ Miss Evans here has already mastered it," Flitwick said beaming at Lily, who guiding her feather through golden hoops around the classroom.

By the end of the hour, nearly everyone had been able to levitate their feather. The bell rang and everyone packed up their stuff.

"That was easy," Sirius said to James as they headed out the door, "We should take your way to classes more often. I mean, we weren't in there as long as everyone else and we got the same amount of work done."

"Then think of what you could get done if you arrive on time," Remus had been waiting for them, "Turns out the staircases do change."

"We noticed," James said haughtily.

Remus didn't say anything more for fear of upsetting James further. He wanted to make friends, not lose them. The three of them were on their way to lunch when they heard whimpering from within the boys' bathroom. They all looked around at each other and with a unanimous nod, they entered the bathroom. The floor was soaked. The whimpering seemed to come from the last stall. James hesitated before opening the door.

The boy with watery, beady eyes was hanging upside down over the toilet wrapped in what appeared to be a toilet paper cocoon.

"Are you alrig-?" he started to ask.

"Watch out!" the boy shrieked.

The toilet shook violently, and then erupted like a volcano. Water burst out one large jet encompassing the dangling boy.

"Stop that!" James yelled stupidly at the toilet. They weren't sure what else to do…they only knew one spell.

But the toilet seemed to have heard him, for it stopped spraying the boy, but it lifted itself up and tilted its bowl towards them.

All three of them were slammed and pinned against the opposite wall by the continuous gush of water.

"I think you should've said please!" Sirius gurgled through the stream.

They tried, with great effort, to fight their way back to the stall. Remus slipped and fell back against the wall. James and Sirius strained against the current close enough where they could reach the door and with great difficulty close the door to the stall. After a minute, the water flow ceased. James and Sirius panting from the effort, hurried back to help Remus.

"How are we going to get him out?" Remus asked nodding towards the stall with the deranged toilet. James brought them into a huddle and quickly devised a plan.

When everyone was in place – James half-way over the barrier separating the mad toilet stall from another one, Sirius at the door to the stall, and Remus off to the side by the sinks – James shouted, "GO!"

James steadied himself over the dividing barrier between stalls, his pocket knife his father had given him in hand, and reached for the strand of toilet paper, more like a rope made of toilet paper, suspending the boy trapped in the stall. The stall shook as the toilet prepared to attack.

"Sirius!" James bellowed.

Sirius quickly opened the door, "Oi! Look here, you slippery, grimy git!"

The toilet repositioned itself to target Sirius, giving James the time to start cutting the toilet paper. Sirius screwed up his face in preparation for the blast. Sure enough he was pelted backward in a rage of water.

"Remus!" James shouted as he cut through the last strand.

As the boy fell, Remus cried, " _Wingardium Leviosa!"_

The boy halted in midair and Remus, panting with the effort of levitating something so large – the boy sure wasn't a feather – managed to land him safely out of the way. He pocketed his wand and rushed to help James pull Sirius out of the current. Coughing and sputtering they crawled back to the still-toilet-paper-imprisoned boy where James cut him out of his cocoon.

The boy scrambled upright and beamed at his now collapsed rescuers, "Thank you, thank you, thank you! A bunch of fifth years tied me up, hung me upside down, and hexed the toilet! I was starting to think no one would come! I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself last night, I'm Peter Pettigrew."

"Remus," Remus gasped still trying to catch his breath.

"James," James coughed.

"Sirius," Sirius sputtered.

After a few minutes of recovery, the four boys started to the Great Hall dripping from head-to-toe. Peter chattered away happily as they approached the Great Hall.

"My floor!" a voice croaked. It was Flich, the grubby-looking caretaker, "You're dripping on my floor!"

Remus tried to explain about Peter and the hexed toilet, but Flich's already red face purpled with rage, "Detention all of you! And ten points from Gryffindor!" And after about five minutes more of extra shouting he demanded they get out of his sight.

"Blimey, first day and we're already in trouble," Sirius said with a slightly amused tone.

"And we've lost points for Gryffindor," Remus said glumly.

"Ah, cheer up, Remus," James said brightly, "We just battled a possessed lavatory and lived to tell the tale."

As they sat at the Gryffindor table, questions arose about their wetness. James launched into an epic account of a daring rescue of Peter Pettigrew from the giant squid. Peter nodded enthusiastically and added to everything James said. Sirius barked with laughter, and Remus rolled his eyes while conceding to the big grin on his face. The only one at the table not impressed with the heroic report was Lily Evans who shook her red head and sighed something that sounded very much like, "Boys."

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